


art of living

by yannasunflower



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-09-26 05:56:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9870380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yannasunflower/pseuds/yannasunflower
Summary: In which Keith is always just so tired and Lance is too bright.College AU. Mature content to come in later chapters.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty new to the Voltron fandom but I couldn't get this AU out of my feckin head so here you are. There will be some mental illness and lots of gay, so if that's not your cup of tea, probably not the story for you. Enjoy!
> 
> Legend for the texts:  
> Lance - italics  
> Keith - bold  
> Hunk - bold italics  
> Pidge - underlined

Keith’s first conversation with Lance Garza was, per millennial customs, over text message.

His phone buzzing was such a rare occurrence that for a few seconds, all he could do was stare at the lit up screen showing an unfamiliar number had texted him. He frowned, swiping his finger idly across the screen to unlock the phone. It was a new one, a gift he had accepted from his father only because his old one no longer accepted incoming calls or texts and he needed a reliable way to talk to his mom. Especially when he went away.

The sudden brightness of the screen gave him an instant headache, reminding him that his room had been a dark cave for three days. He couldn’t remember the last time he had opened the blinds, or the window for that matter. And he didn’t have the energy to replace the lightbulb so he’d stayed in the dark, rather happily, since it had finally run out of juice. At least, as happily as he could get.

He squinted at the screen as he fumbled with the phone, cursing quietly as he turned the brightness down and opened the messaging app.

_hey this is Lance Garza, your new roommate!!!!!!! nice to meet you!!!!!!_

Keith stared in awe at the text for a full minute. Who honestly needed to use that many exclamation points? Their presence alone burned his eyeballs.

Then it dawned on him that his roommate assignments were probably up on the school website and that he had two other roommates who had not texted him yet – though if they were anything like this peppy ball of energy, that seemed a blessing at the moment.

Groaning, he reached for his beat-up computer, pulling it to his lap and typing in the necessary website. He reached blindly for his water bottle before he remembered he had depleted his water supply the day before and hadn’t had the energy to go get more since. Sighing, he resigned himself to the headache for the moment.

He scrolled down, reading the brief roommate profiles he had been given. Lance, interestingly enough, was the same major as him, astrophysics. The other two were computer science and mechanical engineering majors, also interesting. A bunch of misfit brainies it seemed they would be. Or just plain nerds.

 A little more up to conversing with this perfect stranger, Keith took up his phone again, only to realized he had five more texts, all from a number he had quickly come to recognize as Lance’s.

_i hope it’s not annoying but I wanted to discuss décor and furniture for our new pad_

_is that cool?_

_also it says were the same major!!!! cool!!!!_

_*we’re_

_hellloooooooo??????_

Keith groaned once more. It couldn’t be possible that someone could be this clingy after finding out about his existence a mere five minutes ago.

Quickly, he typed a small message back.

**Hi. I’m Keith. Astrophysics, right?**

The reply was quick.

_there ya are!!!!!! thought youd gotten lost!!!!! xD_

_astrophysics!!!! coolest major out there right????_

Keith wondered briefly how someone could honestly think so much punctuation was necessary. It was no surprise the kid wasn’t an English major. Also, how did he type so fast?

**Yeah. You wanted to talk about the apartment?**

_right!!!!! lemme add you to the group message!!!!_

_one sec!!!!_

Keith frowned, fingers flying by now.

  **Group message?**

Suddenly, his phone buzzed with three simultaneous messages. He opened the new chat, seeing that Lance’s newly named contact had been joined by two unfamiliar numbers.

_alright, Keith has joined The Circle!!!!!_

Lance, stop calling us The Circle, we’re not a cult.

**_Hi Keith, I’m Hunk!_ **

Keith gaped. Then pressed the heel of his palm to his temple as his head throbbed. He really needed water.

**Uh, hi?**

I’m Pidge. Lance insists we discuss the apartment right this second. All we really want to know is what you’re bringing.

Keith clung to the seemingly rational ‘Pidge’, whose voiceless texts somehow effortlessly conveyed just the right amount of joking and exasperation to put him at ease.

**I have a couple of secondhand couches for the living room. I can send pics.**

_aw man that’s awesome!!!! thanks man!!!!_

Pictures would be great. I’m bringing a TV for all of us. Lance has the bathroom covered.

**_Don’t worry about the kitchen guys, I’ve got enough dishes for all of us!_ **

_THIS IS SO EXCITING_

Keith couldn’t help the scoff that escaped him. He could just see Lance, some small twiggy nerd crouched in front of his TV, video game paused, grinning like a psycho as he typed. The school hadn’t given any pictures so any images were up to his imagination at this point. Pidge seemed his polar opposite; calm, businesslike. And Hunk just seemed friendly.

**You all seem familiar with each other.**

_we’re all friends. Hunk and I grew up together and we met Pidge in middle school_

**_We requested each other as roommates but because we picked the four bedroom plan, we knew we’d get another roommate_ **

Keith frowned down at the message. So he was already the odd man out? That was fine, he thought, looking around his dark room. He knew for a fact there were some takeout boxes right next to his bed, some not quite empty, and a pile of laundry in the far corner behind the door.

They wouldn’t want to be his friend anyway.

Remembering that he had said he’d send pictures of the couches, he swung his legs out from under his covers reluctantly. Sighing, he stumbled toward his door, cursing as he stepped in god-knows-what. He opened the door quietly, suddenly keenly aware that it was almost eleven at night and his mother would have long gone to bed. He didn’t bother to question why Lance had decided to message him so late.

He tiptoed down to the basement, snapping some pictures and sending them before making his way to the kitchen to scavenge for some edible food that hadn’t been rotting in his room for days.

First, he dug through the cabinet, hunting for some aspirin. After swallowing a few, he chugged a water bottle and crammed a peanut butter sandwich down his throat before grabbing another water bottle and tip toeing back to his room.

He paused outside his mother’s door and carefully pressed his ear against the wood. After a few seconds, he could hear her slow breathing. Closing his eyes, pressing his forehead to the smooth surface, he could almost see her peaceful face, smooth and unlined despite her age.

Sighing quietly, he straightened and went back to his room, shutting the door quietly. He opened his phone to read the texts he hadn’t felt like reading as he nourished himself.

_those are sick!!!! thanks dude!!!! and the colors don’t clash!!!!_

Thanks for this, we really appreciate it.

**_You’re the best!_ **

Sighing, Keith glanced at the clock. 12:16 AM now. He was feeling tired; he hadn’t slept for a couple days at this point, he thought.

**No problem. Good night guys. See you in a week.**

Good night.

**_Looking forward to meeting you in person!_ **

_sweet dreams!!!!_

Keith locked his phone and took another swig of water before laying down and quickly passing out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, chapter 2. Sorry for the wait, enjoy!

Keith knew that moving in would have been impossible without Shiro’s help but he was really starting to regret asking him for it.

“I can’t believe you’re already starting college,” Shiro murmured, looking around the bare room as Keith struggled to fit sheets on his bed. “Seems like just yesterday –”

“I was learning to crawl, yeah, I know, can you help me with this now?” Keith interrupted, glaring at his brother.

Shiro blinked before moving to hold down one corner of the sheet as Keith finally wrangled the other corners on. Huffing a little, he put the comforter on and threw the pillows onto it while Shiro began opening boxes for him and moved the nightstand so it was next to his bed.

Keith knew he was pretty lucky to be able to move into an apartment and sleep in his own bed while most first years were moving into a dorm room with narrow beds and way too many people in close proximity to each other. But he resented, at the same time, the smirk on his father’s face when he had asked for the money to live there. And the conditions the bastard had set would be annoying at best. Insufferable at worst. Honestly, since when had his father cared about having _lunch_ with him twice a month? Definitely not since the man had moved out Keith’s second year of elementary school.

It took Keith a minute or so of brooding to realize that Shiro was talking to him about something.

“Sorry, what?” he asked plainly, focusing his eyes on his older brother.

Shiro was a tall man, handsome from what Keith’s girl classmates had told him, and extraordinarily intelligent. He had only graduated college a year ago and had an excellent job as well as a teaching assistant job at the university, a spot in a coveted graduate program, and the prospects of a PhD on the horizon.

Said genius repeated himself.

“I said, you should text Mom and let her know you got here safe.”

Keith nearly gave him his customary response, which would have been an eye roll and a shrug. But he paused and slowly nodded, pulling his phone out to send the short text.

There was a beat of silence before Shiro spoke again.

“How is she?” he asked softly. His eyes were always gentle, but when he spoke of their mother, they took on a sort of tenderness as well.

“She’s alright,” Keith answered, ignoring the pang in his gut that called him a piece of shit for moving away. “She doesn’t talk about it much and still works a lot but…”

“You know she’s in pain,” Shiro finished for him.

Keith sighed. It had been Shiro who had put their mother back together after their father left. It had been Shiro who learned to cook so he could feed them and walked Keith to school and helped him with his homework. Shiro, who had bought their mom movies to watch and opened her curtains and reminded her to say good night to a small, lonely Keith.

Shiro had kept their little family together so that when he went away to college, Keith had a mother to come home to.

But his senior year of high school, she’d gotten cancer. Liver cancer, stage two. There was hope but it was liver cancer, and she was older. She’d started working crazy hours, making money in a mad frenzy to pay her hospital bills and support her sons. But eventually, her illness had caught up to her and she’d had to rest for a little. Despite Keith working his ass off at his two part time jobs and Shiro earning scholarship after scholarship, money had grown tight.

So again, it fell to Shiro to fix things. He had called their father to explain the situation. A prolific businessman and political figure, he had promised full financial support for his sons’ educations.

But being their father and the asshole he was, there had been stipulations. He wanted to start seeing them again. And they had to go to the university he had graduated from. It was prestigious and had excellent space and astrophysics programs, so it hadn’t been too big of an issue.

Keith just hated the very space his father inhabited so he was a little biased.

He glanced at his brother before staring at his hands. Scarred, tanned by the sun after working six days a week gardening for different neighborhoods.

“Hey Shiro,” he began, looking up.

“No,” Shiro said simply, not even bothering to look up from the box he was cutting open. “You’re not an asshole for leaving Mom by herself.

“Are you-”

“Sure? Yes, now stop being lazy and help me unpack your boxes.”

Keith’s shoulders relaxed a little and he suppressed a smile. Shiro somehow always knew what he needed to hear. He was sappy and emotional and oftentimes took his role as Big Brother too seriously, but he took care of Keith. He always had.

They worked quietly for an hour or so before Keith heard the rattling of a key at the door of the apartment. His breathing hitched instantly and he contemplated hiding in his closet for a brief moment as he panicked. He wasn’t good with new people, not at all, and Shiro was here to witness his god-awful awkwardness and what if his roommates didn’t like him and-

“Let’s go meet your roommate!” Shiro said cheerfully, leaving the room so _confidently_ , Keith hated him for it.

Keith nervously followed his brother, trying to appear nonchalant but also eager but also not _too_ eager. He wondered how bad it would look if he hid behind Shiro for just a second…

The door suddenly banged open and in walked one of his roommates. And he was completely surprised.

She was _tiny_. She was short and wore huge glasses and a sweater that was too big for her and was swearing _furiously_ as her backpack threatened to slip from her back.

“Fucking nuisance,” she muttered before blinking up at them, a small grin finally emerging.

“Hello. Which one am I living with?” she asked. Just like over text, she didn’t really waste time with pleasantries.

“Me,” Keith blurted, panicking when he realized he hadn’t taken time to practice how he would respond and now he had probably sounded like a complete idiot.

“Awesome, I’m Pidge,” she answered cheerily, seemingly unfazed by his social awkwardness. “My mom and brother are coming up right now with some more of my luggage but we might need help with the TV. Is that alright?”

“Sure,” Shiro chimed in. “I’ll be glad to help.”

She flashed him a real smile before turning to Keith, eyes large and round like and owl’s.

“Which room did you claim?” she asked, adjusting her backpack once more. Keith resisted the urge to step forward and take it, instead nodding towards the first door on the right.

“Cool, I’ll go stake out the other ones and snatch up the best before the giants come,” she quipped before shuffling off. Really, that backpack looked heavy. What was in it? And was she really that small or was it just the huge black backpack making her look so fragile?

More voices sounded from the doorway and in a desperate bid to avoid more human interaction with strangers, Keith followed Pidge down the hall, searching hopelessly for any source of conversation. Luckily, Pidge was a little more chatty in person than over text.

“How good are you at building things?” she asked, poking her head into the second bedroom on the right.

“Uh, I built my own motorcycle,” Keith offered, wondering where this was going.

“That’s great because my family can’t stay long and I can build a computer in no time but furniture fucking befuddles me so I might need your help putting my desk together.”

Keith, strangely enough, wanted to laugh.

“Yeah, I can manage that. I brought some tools.”

“A prepared man is a good man,” Pidge said distractedly, sounding faintly like she was quoting someone. She glanced into the bathroom briefly before opening the door to the first bedroom on the left, nodding shortly to herself.

“This one,” she announced before pushing her way in and finally dropping her backpack with a decisive _thunk_.

The voices in the hallway grew louder until Keith was watching as a woman and young man were framed in the doorway, both sporting hair color the exact same shade as Pidge’s.

“Is this it?” asked the boy, her brother he assumed.

“Yup, go ahead and start putting things in that corner,” Pidge answered, gesturing to the far corner of the room.

“I’m Mrs. Holt, Pidge’s mom,” the woman introduced herself with a smile. Keith nodded back at her nervously before remembering he was supposed to introduce himself as well.

“Keith,” he answered.

“Pidge’s roommate,” he added as an afterthought. Then he berated himself because _obviously_ he was Pidge’s roommate, what else would he be? Her gardener? Honestly, he was such an idiot.

The boy also grinned at him and gave him a little wave.

“I’m Matt, Pidge’s brother. Also, alumni.”

Shiro perked up with interest at the word _alumni_. He had been leaning against the door, letting Keith make his own friends.

“You graduated from here? What year?” he asked.

“Just last year,” Matt answered, looking over at him. “Are you alumni too?”

“Yeah, same year. What major were you?”

“Physics,” Matt answered with a laugh. “I’m a bit of a geek. If you can see Pidge, you’ll know it runs in the family.

“I was quantum physics so I honestly can’t judge you,” Shiro laughed in response. The two began discussing professors, walking back out together to start unloading the TV.

“You’re computer science, right?” Keith asked, looking over at Pidge who was starting to open boxes. He grabbed the box cutter from his pocket and started helping.

“Yeah, I’m a computer geek. And you’re the same as Lance, astrophysics. Star geek, eh?”

Keith nodded.

“So you’ve been friends with Lance and Hunk for a while. What are they like?” he asked in what he hoped was a completely nonchalant, non-creepy way.

“Hunk is friendly and caring,” Pidge answered, frowning as she focused on not cutting the cardboard. She muttered thanks to her mom, who had just brought in more boxes.

“And Lance is…Lance. He’s very bright,” she continued, rather vaguely. She glanced up at him, noting his confused face.

“You’ll see what I mean, if you haven’t already,” she assured him.

Keith almost felt like he did know what she meant, just a little. Even over text, Lance was…bright.

Keith was completely unpacked and helping Pidge with her desk after her family left when his last two roommates arrived. Shiro had stuck around to help out it they needed it but as it turned out, that wouldn’t be necessary.

The front door banged open and suddenly the apartment was filled with babbling children, quick, excited Spanish, and way too many people talking over each other.

Keith was in full-fledged Panic Mode. He was ready to dart to his room, lock the door, and hide under his covers like the little boy he actually was. His breathing quickened but before he could make a move, Pidge smiled at him.

“Lance’s family can be a little overwhelming but don’t worry, they’re all super nice. They’ll like you,” she reassured him.

Shiro put a steadying hand on his shoulder as they walked out and Keith focused on his breathing while they made their way to the living area and kitchen, Pidge a few steps ahead of them.

“There you are, you idiots. What took you so long?” she called.

“Lance ran late, as per usual,” another voice answered, followed by an indignant _hey_.

“My sister couldn’t get her son to stop crying okay, it’s not my fault. Or did you _want_ a crying six year old to help us move all this stuff in?” a rather huffy voice answered.

Keith swallowed, hard, before emerging to the chaotic scene before him.

There were three kids clambering onto the sofa, two older teenagers poking a short woman with long, curly black hair, asking her where they should put the boxes stacked in their arms. Four older men stood around discussing where to place kitchenware while three women chatted amicably about the size of the apartment and the couches. Keith’s couches.

A stocky boy, around his age, was giving Pidge what looked like a bone-crushing hug. Keith was half afraid she would snap in half. And a tall lanky boy with tanned skin and dusky brown hair was laughing. White teeth flashed as he guffawed at Pidge’s pained expression and Keith knew, with blinding certainty, that _he_ was Lance. He couldn’t explain how or why he knew. Maybe it was the dimple on his left cheek or the way his eyes closed when he laughed. Maybe it was his laugh, full and loud. But that one was Lance.

Pidge had been right. He was bright.

It took Keith a moment to remember he should step forward and introduce himself but he was frozen to the spot, not sure where to begin. He was completely overwhelmed by the chattering children and sheer amount of strangers who all apparently knew each other very well.

He took comfort in the fact that Shiro also appeared lost.

“Um,” Shiro began, taking a hesitant step forward.

It turns out, that was all it took.

“Which one is Keith?” asked the short woman. Her skin was the exact same color as Lance’s. She spoke with a lilting Spanish accent and flashed the same white teeth as her son.

“Me,” Keith answered, faintly feeling the need to raise his hand. Like she was a teacher.

“Wonderful. I am Mrs. Garza, Lance’s mother. And these are my children,” and thus began the introductions. The names flew by him so fast he couldn’t keep track of which belonged to whom. One of the women was Lance’s older sister, who had come with her husband and three children. The younger of the four men was Lance’s older brother and the two teenagers, a boy and girl, were also his siblings. Keith learned later they were fraternal twins. He was introduced to Lance’s father as well, whose skin was a couple shades darker and whose accent was just a little thicker than his wife’s.

Hunk’s parents stepped forward and introduced themselves soon after. His father was a big man with dark skin the color of his son’s and his mother was short and muscled. She spoke with a booming, warm voice that put Keith at ease, oddly enough.

And then, his roommates. Sure enough, he had been right. The lanky boy introduced himself as Lance and the shorter, muscled boy cheerily shook his hand and named himself Hunk.

Keith faintly introduced his brother, who gave a small wave and smile. He was immediately recruited to help unload the cars and he flashed Keith an apologetic look as he was ushered out of the apartment once more. Leaving Keith alone to face his new roommates.

“Pidge says you two have already claimed your rooms. We’re gonna go and put our stuff down. What do you say to my folks treating all of you to food afterwards?” Hunk asked with a huge grin.

Keith spluttered out a yes, thank you, and the two were off, joking and shoving as they hauled boxes down the hallway.

After about an hour, Keith came to learn that what Hunk had mean by “treating them all to food” was that his parents had brought enough food to feed a third world nation and planned on breaking in the new kitchen.

Soon, the apartment was filled with the aroma of meat cooking and vegetables frying. Keith hovered in the entrance of the living room, unsure of his place in this crowd of laughing, loud people. Even Pidge was in there, small frame even tinier compared to Hunk’s family. She was laughing while Lance’s older brother told her a story, something involving a hamster and ten glasses of milk.

Shiro gave him a one armed hug before he left, reminding him to “be nice and make friends with your roommates”. Keith was left completely alone. After a few minutes of his rather awkward hovering, he was getting ready to just go to his room and go to sleep when Lance’s mother caught sight of him.

“Mijo,” she called, flashing that blinding smile of hers. “Come eat! You are too skinny!”

And thus, Keith was pulled in, handed a heaping plate he couldn’t possibly finish, and peppered with questions about himself and his life and his interests.

He hardly knew which questions to answer first or when to breathe. His plate remained untouched for ten minutes before he got a chance to take a bite. The food was delicious, despite the fact it had cooled. He muttered a thank you to Hunk’s parents, who beamed and waved it off. His roommates explained how they had all become friends and Mrs. Garza lamented the fact that Pidge’s family couldn’t join them.

After about an hour of this, when his plate was finally empty, he excused himself quietly, citing the fact he still had unpacking to do. Pidge gave him a sideways glance, knowing full well he had finished earlier in the afternoon, but said nothing. Keith slipped away, shutting his door and finally _breathing_.

Left alone to a dark room with no light and no people crowding him, Keith slipped out of his clothes and crawled into bed, shutting his eyes tight as he drew the covers over his head. It was barely ten at night but he was ready to sleep for the next nine months. His phone lit up with a text from Shiro, reminding him to eat and text their mom the next day.

He rolled over to his other side, ignoring the buzzing of his phone and attempting to shut out the merriment of the voices outside his door.

The school year was off to a great start.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait! this chapter felt like it was basically stumbling out of my keyboard space by space, letter by letter. hopefully updates will be shorter from now on, i'm getting into the rhythm of this story. thanks for reading and please comment!

Chapter 3

Keith had infamously bad luck with first days of school. His first day of kindergarten began with him throwing up all over the kid who sat next to him. In third grade, he ripped his pants open. Right on the ass. In fifth grade, he spilled his entire lunch on the most popular girl in school; he could still hear her shrill shrieks. In eighth grade, he had _actually_ peed his pants. Junior year of high school, he accidentally punched a teacher in the face.

On this first day of school for his first year of college, he woke up to the smell of pancakes. And bacon. And eggs. And sausage. And toast. There was also the lovely, godly aroma of coffee, the only thing he pulled himself out of his rather comfortable bed for. He stumbled down the short hallway to the kitchen, where he found Hunk in a frilly pink apron singing along to the tunes of what Keith vaguely recognized as a musical. He’d be damned if he knew which one though.

“Good…morning?” he asked more than greeted.

Hunk shot him a beaming smile.

“You’re a coffee drinker aren’t you?” he asked knowingly. Keith nodded and Hunk gestured to the expensive looking coffee machine set up on the counter.

“Help yourself, Lance is a coffee fanatic and brought this for us all to share.”

Silently thanking his tall roommate, Keith started the machine with only a small amount of fumbling, placing his NASA mug under it with the smallest glimmer of hope that this first day wouldn’t actually be a disaster.

“Lance will be up any minute now. He has a strict morning routine that starts at exactly 7:30 every morning so he should come stumbling out moaning for coffee right about now.”

Hunk moved to start another cup when Keith removed his. He watched with interest as Hunk put in the little capsule that read “French Vanilla” and pressed start.

“You know how he likes his coffee?” Keith asked, not really surprised.

“Yeah, he loves his creamer and sugar. Pidge is like you, black as a black hole,” Hunk answered.

“And you?” Keith asked.

“I’m in the middle of you guys.”

They lapsed into a peaceful silence as Hunk moved with size defying grace around the kitchen, flipping pancakes and scrambling eggs with the ease of someone who had practiced all his life. All the while, the music played softly in the background. Keith silently praised himself for holding a semi decent conversation for once in his life, though Hunk had really been the one who made it easy.

The sound of a door opening interrupted them and sure enough, Lance shuffled in, yawning a “good morning” as he made a beeline for the coffee machine.

Keith tried to return the greeting but paused mid-word, struggling to keep his mouth from dropping open.

Lance’s face was covered in a green goo. He wore a light blue, what looked like _silk_ robe, and had on blue puffy cat slippers as well as blue pajama pants. He looked ridiculous really, like some weird mutant from a movie, and the sight of it, which should have been unappealing to Keith, was oddly endearing.

Keith felt a laugh rising in his throat, though he never laughed before 11 in the morning; really, he rarely laughed at all these days.

“Breakfast will be done in about five minutes dude,” Hunk said, slapping Lance’s hand away from the steaming, freshly made bacon.

Lance groaned, muttering what sounded like gibberish as he shuffled back down the hallway. A few seconds later Keith heard the shower start. He glanced at Hunk, one eyebrow raised.

“Strict morning routine?” he asked, fighting to keep the corners of his mouth down.

“I should have said ‘ridiculously extravagant’,” Hunk snickered. “If you mention it at all he’ll wrestle you into letting him give you skincare tips, so if you want to avoid that conversation, hold your peace.”

Keith nodded, smiling into his coffee cup. “Thanks for the tip.”

True to his word, Hunk let Keith start his plate about five minutes later. Keith stared at the mounds of food, feeling the customary nausea rise in his stomach at the sight of it. But he didn’t want to be rude so he ladled some eggs onto his plate and a piece of bacon.

Hunk disappeared, muttering something about how Pidge could never get up at normal times, and Keith was left staring at his food, swallowing the bile.

Lance walked in to find Keith in this weird staring challenge with his food.

“Mornin’,” he said, sounding a lot more chipper than he had just ten minutes ago. His robe was gone, showing a large gray t-shirt which looked huge on his skinny frame. He placed his empty cup back under the coffee machine, starting another cup.

Keith answered with a nod, finally putting a small piece of egg in his mouth.

“Sorry, I’m not super talkative when I first wake up but how’d you sleep?” Lance asked, sitting down with a full plate. He brought with him the fresh smell of body wash. His dark hair was gleaming with water and he flashed that alarmingly white smile at Keith as he started shoveling eggs into his mouth at a rather fast pace.

Keith debated on whether to force his own weak smile before deciding against it and settling on a noncommittal shrug.

“I slept fine,” he muttered. Truth was, he had woken up five times in a cold sweat, the blackness of his room choking him every time. He felt like death, the coffee only minimally reviving him.

“That’s good,” Lance answered, bringing him back to the warm, bright kitchen. His mouth was full and Keith tried to disguise his disgust as he shoved a piece of bacon in his mouth too.

Keith focused back on his own meager plate, where his food was quickly cooling. He swallowed his bacon and ate a few more bites of eggs before the nausea was unbearable. He stood abruptly, interrupting Lance’s one-sided monologue on how much he was looking forward to his classes.

“Gotta go,” Keith mumbled, dumping the rest of his coffee out and throwing his plate away before he ran to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before he released the content of his stomach. When it was over, he sat back, panting, eyeing the toilet bowl with disgust. He couldn’t even eat the proper breakfast his friendly roommate had made for them.

There came a soft knock at the door followed by Pidge’s sleepy raspy voice.

“I need to pee,” she whined.

“Just a sec,” Keith groaned, flushing the toilet and hauling himself to his feet. He splashed some cold water on his face before he unlocked the door and walked out.

Pidge muttered a thank you before shutting the door in a hurry. Keith slunk to his room to lay down for a bit before his first class at eleven. He crawled into bed and shut his eyes with a quiet moan, trying to ignore his still-roiling stomach.

He woke with a jerk around 9:30. He lay in bed for another half hour, just staring at his plain white ceiling, dreading the moment he would have to get out of bed.

But get out of bed he did. He took a quick minute to brush his teeth and shoved a notebook and pencil in his backpack, as well as his phone charger, sketchbook, and wallet. He placed his red headphones over his head and prepared himself for what was bound to be a rather arduous search for his classes.

The walk to campus was brisk, the morning air still cool enough for him to zip up his sweater. It was a relatively short walk, just down the street basically. There were a few other students walking around him, some in pairs, chattering away excitedly as they tried to get to know each other better. Everywhere there was an air, of anticipation, excitement, newness.

It made Keith anxious.

His first class ended up being in the first building he came across when he got on campus, which made his life easier. It was an introductory astronomy course, one of his lower division requirements, and his professor was an older woman with graying hair pulled into a tight bun. Her glasses made her eyes look huge and she wore a navy NASA sweatshirt with jeans and thick boots. She was talking to a younger girl with startling long white hair and tan skin, who spoke animatedly with many hand gestures and laughs.

Keith settled into a seat near the front, taking out his notebook and pencil. He put his bag on the seat next to him, afraid of someone sitting too close to him, despite the plethora of free seats. He had no sooner taken his headphones off his head than his tall, extremely loud roommate threw himself into the seat on his other side.

Lance sighed, smelling like the fresh air outside, flashing Keith a smile.

“I wasn’t sure if that was you from the back or not, but your hair is somehow rather distinctive. Mullets haven’t been in style for like, decades you know. We have a class together, which is super cool, right?”

Keith could only blink at him for a second. “Uh, right?”

Lance pulled out a thermos – how much coffee was he going to drink? – and his laptop, a smooth silver thing that looked expensive.

Lance caught his eye, smiling again.

“Graduation present. My parents saved up for months to buy it for me,” he explained, suddenly shy. “We don’t have a lot of money but I’m the first in my family to go to a real university, so they wanted to get me something special.”

Keith nodded, swallowing and looking away. The new phone in his pocket suddenly burned and he felt his ears go red. His father had sent the phone in the mail, express shipping, no second thoughts about it. Shiro had merely mentioned to him how beat up Keith’s phone was and he’d received the newest iPhone model two days later.

Keith had been furious with Shiro, and even more furious with himself for almost being grateful. He’d hated every word he typed of the “thank you” message he sent his father,

“I wonder if we have any other classes together,” Lance continued, starting his computer up and taking a sip of his coffee.

“We’re the same major so I wouldn’t be surprised,” Keith murmured, not too excited about the prospect. He already lived with him; how much did Lance want to interact with him? Keith was a rather boring person, it was only a matter of time until Lance figured that out.

“Study buddies!” Lance chirped, not noticing Keith’s lack of enthusiasm.

Keith didn’t grace that with a response, instead turning to the front where the professor had started up a PowerPoint and cleared her throat.

“Welcome to the class, everyone,” she began, a warm smile creasing her face. “I am Professor Hobbs. I hope you enjoy the time we spend exploring the universe together. Now, we’ll go over the syllabus first and begin the class.”

And so, Keith’s first year of university began.

~

Keith did, in fact, share more classes with Lance, which they found out after the taller boy all but forced Keith to compare schedules. Out of his total of five classes, he shared four of them with Lance. The fifth was physics, which Keith had ended up testing into a higher one than his roommate. Lance had admitted he was slow with physics, but seemed to make up for it with his math skills.

“Honestly, it’s thanks to Pidge. She tutored me in high school,” Lance told him as they grabbed lunch together. Or rather, as Lance ordered a sandwich, drink, chips, and cookie while Keith bought a bag of chips with the lame excuse of an uneasy stomach.

Keith watched with some amazement as Lance proceeded to wolf his food down. The beanpole skinny boy could give Hunk a run for his money, which was an achievement in and of itself. Keith had never seen anyone eat as much as Hunk did in one sitting.

“I’m sure she’d be willing to tutor you, too, if you asked,” Lance continued, not seeming to care about the quantity of food stuffed in his mouth. Keith was repulsed by how he wasn’t completely disgusted by the lack of manners.

“Uh, well, I doubt she wants to tutor someone she barely knows…” Keith trailed off, anxiety roiling in his stomach at the thought of asking the small girl to tutor his dumbass in math.

“Nah, she’ll love it. And we’re roommates now! Not exactly gonna be strangers for long, you know?”

Keith marveled at how Lance made everything sound so easy. Like life was a breeze.

“Well I’m out, that was my last class for the day so I’m going to head home and take a nap before Hunk gets back to nag me about it.”

Keith nearly smiled at the mental picture of Hunk nagging a sleeping Lance to get out of bed.

“Hunk’s very nice,” he murmured, almost without thinking.

“Yeah, he’s a real mother hen. He’s the reason a slacker like me even got into a college like this,” Lance admitted proudly, eyes gleaming at the chance to brag about his friend.

“Hey, don’t forget to put your schedule on the fridge when you get home. It’ll be useful to know when we’re all going to be coming and going,” Lance said, waving farewell and heading out. He walked like a tall boy, long legs flying out before they struck the ground and shoulders bouncing in a jaunty way that gave the illusion he was almost jogging everywhere he went. He gave Keith another blinding smile before he was gone in the sea of people.

Keith sighed, eyes drifting closed in the crowded sandwich shop; Lance always left him feeling like he’d just spent five hours dancing. He pushed and pulled at Keith with his words and smiles and rather expressive face. Lance wore all his emotions on his face and it was incredibly easy to detect the changes in his voice and mood.

Keith stood up abruptly, nearly forgetting he had one more class for the day before he got to head home after Lance. It was physics and he was left wondering why he even bothered to go when they spent the entire hour discussing the syllabus.

He had concluded that professors had an almost unhealthy obsession with their syllabus.

Even so, he was grateful for the rather descriptive documents; they outlined important due dates and test dates and let him know ahead of time about classes that would be cancelled later on in the semester.

When Keith trudged through the door, he was not expecting to find Pidge screaming rather colorful curses at the TV screen, where she was desperately shooting down some kind of monsters.

“Uh, hello?” Keith said, not even sure if she would be able to hear him.

“Keith? Hey, bring me that cup of water on the counter over there, my throat is killing me.”

“I wonder why…”

“Sans the sass, mullet-head.”

_Mullet-head?_

Even so, Keith obeyed, shrugging off his backpack and taking a seat on the couch behind Pidge, who was crouched on the ground behind the coffee table.

“Do you have classes today?”

“Nope, Monday’s are free for me, so I got a free first day of school. How did yours go?”

Keith shrugged, before realizing she had her back to him and probably couldn’t see him.

“Figured. Lance couldn’t shut up for about forty five minutes before he finally went to sleep,” Pidge growled, suddenly leaning violently left as though that would help her avoid the enemies on her screen.

“How is he sleeping through this?” Keith wondered aloud. Pidge wasn’t exactly being quiet.

“He owns earplugs. Hunk is a notorious snorer, like seriously, it sounds like a monster truck. You might want to invest in a pair.”

“Do you have some too?”

“I don’t sleep much,” Pidge shrugged, taking a second to sip her water. “I’m in the middle of designing my own program right now. It’s been my project for about two years now and it’s a bitch.”

Keith’s eyes widened. He had no idea Pidge was that much into her major, although her completely customized, self-built computer probably should have tipped him off. Also, the fact that she hadn’t let him lay a finger on it, with the threat of castration.

“That’s a long time,” he answered after a pause filled with the sounds of the video game.

“I expect another five years, speaking realistically. But honestly, if I succeed, it’ll be huge. Huge, Keith. World-changing. I’m gonna bring governments to their knees,” she turned to grin at him, rather maniacally.

Keith couldn’t help but smile back.

“Can’t wait, Pidge.”

~

When Keith woke up from what he had deemed would be a quick “cat nap” five hours later, he merely sighed.

It was almost nine at night and his stomach was screaming at him for food. He mentally thought through the groceries Shiro had bought for him, insisting that a diet consisting solely of ramen was not enough substance.

Realizing he was too tired to do any “real” cooking, he decided on ramen for the night and groaned as he rolled out of bed, stumbling toward his light switch. He groaned again when the light hit his eyes and promptly turned it back off.

He walked out to the kitchen, where Hunk sat at the table messing with some wires and what looked like metal pieces at the kitchen table. Pidge was still playing game and gave him only a grunt of acknowledgement when he entered the room that was thankfully, not too bright. A blessing on his budding headache.

“Hey, you missed dinner,” Hunk said brightly without looking up, somehow managing to sound cheery despite the frown on his face.

“Yeah sorry, I was more tired than I thought.”

“No problem, we left you a plate in the microwave. I hope you like hot dogs.”

“Oh you didn’t have to…” Keith trailed off, not sure if he could stomach a whole hot dog at the moment and loathe to abandon his ramen plan.

“Don’t worry about it, man, you look you haven’t eaten in days.”

Keith cringed. He hadn’t considered how obvious the signs of his rather lacking diet were on his body. Dark shadows stood out in his pale, shrunken face and his clothes were all a little too loose on him to be normal. Or comfortable.

_Well, I haven’t eaten a proper meal in months, what can they expect?_ He felt defensive, bristling at the well-meaning jab at his appearance. He took just fine care of himself. He didn’t need another Shiro breathing down his back to eat and sleep normally and shower and take care of himself.

“I’m good, actually. Not hungry,” he said shortly, firmly this time.

Hunk looked up at the change in his tone, eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

“You just slept for like five hours, are you sure?” he asked.

Keith clenched his fists and his jaw, hoping to god he didn’t look as annoyed as he felt. He felt like he was on the verge of a tantrum, like a little kid getting his favorite toy taken away from him.

“I told you, I’m fine.” He sounded decidedly more snappish this time and Hunk raised his hands in a defensive gesture, frowning now.

“Hey, take it easy, I was just making sure.”

“Well, don’t,” Keith snipped out before turning and heading back to his room, careful not to slam the door. He could hear murmuring in the living room where he knew Hunk and Pidge were probably discussing his little outburst.

He slunk to his bed, where he collapsed and gripped his head; his headache was in full bloom now. In all honesty, it would only go away with water and food but he didn’t really feel like facing his roommates after what had just happened. They were probably done with him, anyway. Who wanted a psycho roommate who snapped at something as small as saving him food?

“I’m an idiot,” he groaned into his pillow.

He had a feeling Shiro would agree.

~

Keith woke up, blessedly, without a headache for once. And then he glanced at his clock and realized it was six in the morning.

“Shit,” he said softly to the dark room.

Around eight Keith realized he’d been a bad son and hadn’t called his mom the day before like she had asked. Wincing, he grabbed his phone and dialed her number, one he knew by heart. He remembered her teaching it to him when he was six, not budging till he had proved he had memorized it so he would never be unable to call her if he was lost or hurt.

“If you’re ever scared or lost, you call me, okay? I’ll keep you safe,” she had murmured, smoothing his hair back and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

She picked up after a few rings, sounding absolutely delighted.

“Keith! Tell me everything! How are your roommates? How were classes yesterday? You didn’t call, why didn’t you call? Shiro is worried too, you should tex-“

“Mom, slow down, I’m fine,” Keith interrupted, laughing a little. She sounded breathless and tired, but happy.

He told her about his day and his roommates, leaving out the part where he had probably eliminated any chance of them being friends. She listened eagerly, asking questions like a little kid in a science class and laughing when he talked about how his physics professor looked a little like a young Albert Einstein.

“I miss you, but you sound like you’re doing good,” she said at the end. “Don’t forget to text Shiro and I every once in a while, baby. You know we worry.”

“You don’t have to, I’m okay,” he lied.

She didn’t answer, sighing instead.

“Also, you know I hate to mention it, but don’t forget to check in with your father every once in a while. You owe him a lot and you know how he gets.”

Keith stiffened, nails digging into his palm. _Bastard._

“Yeah Mom, I know.”

He asked how she was doing, which she brushed off, per usual. He could tell she was tired but was satisfied by the fact she seemed comfortable and not too lonely yet.

He didn’t feel like such a bad son for leaving. Yet.

“Alright baby, have a good day, I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

“Bye, Mom,” he said before hanging up. He looked at the empty room around him, where the early morning sunshine was just barely filtering in through his closed blinds.

“Miss you,” he whispered.

Keith realized that he was the one who felt lonely already, not his mom.


End file.
